Max's Shadow
by Fallen Ark Angel
Summary: He'll never be as important as Max. Always just the dark one behind her, never the leader, always the follower. After all, following is all Fang will ever be good for.
1. Chapter 1

Max's Shadow

Chapter 1

He had a little toy car. It was black and blue. It was also really old, but one of the nicer people that poked and prodded him with instruments and gave him shots had given it to him. He didn't really know what a car was, or how to play with a toy for that matter, but he liked it. A lot. It was his. His car.

"Hey. Psst."

Blinking, the little boy turned his dark eyes to the cage next to his. He had just gotten moved to this cage that morning, having just been transferred from another part of the building. There was a girl sitting in the cage next to him, hardly older than he was but clearly with better verbal skills.

"Can you open stuff?"

He just stared at her.

"Do you talks? Like…words?"

The three year old, bashful as ever, quickly turned his vision back down to the bottom of his cage, back to his little car. It was blue and black. And his. He'd gotten it-

"Great. You don't speak at all?"

Why was she talking to him? The little boy just kept staring down at his car. Was that what she wanted? Swallowing, he turned to face her again, slipping his little hands through the bars of his cage, the car clasped in one.

"What are you doing?" She took it from him, frowning. "Where'd you get this?"

The dark headed boy just sat back down, facing forwards again. Then the tears started.

"Why are you crying?"

He just sat there, bawling. He'd never had nothing all for himself before. And now she'd taken it. No, not taken it. He'd given it to her. But only so she'd leave him alone.

"Do you want your toy back?" The girl next to him sighed before reaching through the bars of her own cage, holding the car out much like he had. "Here."

He took it back from her, sniffling.

"You could at least say thanks." She frowned before getting back to the task at hand. Reaching into her own cage, she moved to pass him some sort of bag now. "That's what they feed us now. 'cept I ain't gots many teeths. I seen you open yours with your teeths 'fore. Open mines."

He just stared at the bag for a second.

"Well, ain't you gonna take it?"

Pulling the small packet of food into his own cage, he thought for a moment about just opening and keeping it. He was still hungry after all. He was always hungry. Still, she had been so nice, giving him his toy car back and everything.

"Could you hurry?"

She was also very bossy apparently. Not wanting to displease or anger his new fuehrer, the raven haired boy quickly used his sharp front teeth to rip open her bag and pass it back.

"Wow. Thems your baby teeth too?" The girl smiled at him, taking the bag and sitting back on her butt. "Thank you. See? That's what you gotta say when someone does somethin' nice for you."

The boy swallowed before whispering something.

"Huh?"

"Hi," he said louder then. That was the only word he knew, really. A nice older woman had taught it to him once. Hi. Hi. She kept repeating it, expecting him to do the same. "Hi."

"Hi," the girl said back easily, smiling at him as she munched away on her food. "I'm Max."

"Hi."

"What's your name?"

"…Hi."

She stared at him for a long moment, studying him. "You don't know hows to talk, do you?"

Timid once more, the boy quickly turned back around, speaking no more for the rest of the day. That was okay though, because the girl next to him didn't either. Max. He didn't know why, but he really wished that she would. She was real good at it, speaking. And she had been so nice! Albeit, bossy, she seemed to mean well. Maybe a little rude. Try a lot rude.

Max. Max. Max. He'd learn how to say that, one day. He knew he would. Max. Max. Max. Hi and Max. Hi, Max. That's what he'd learn how to say. Hi, Max. Max, hi. Yep. He'd speak just as well as her. Max. Hi, Max. Max, hi. He was giddy just from the thought.

* * *

"And yous gots wings too?"

There the little boy was, sitting up on a counter in one of the examination rooms, having just gotten a needle full of something when that girl came in. He hadn't seen her in a few days. She'd gotten taken by some of those people that took care of them.

"The two of you know each other?" The man with her frowned as he lifted the girl up onto the counter top next to him.

"Duh, Jeb," she said, making a face. "He's gots lots of teeths."

The little boy just sat there, kicking his feet back and forth, banging them on the drawers under the counter. The scientist he was with, Dr. Rody, quickly reprimanded him for it. That girl next to him, Max, spit at the guy, who looked about ready to bash her skull in. The little boy had never seen someone do that to one of the needle sticking people. Ever. That's how you get punished.

"Now, now, Rody, you do know who this is? Might I remind you this is Maximum Ride. Our saving grace. A little spit never hurt anyone." The man with Max, Jeb, smiled at her as the guy, Rody moved to take Fang off the counter. "Not yet. I'll bring him back to his cage. I haven't had adequate time to become adjusted to the boy anyways."

During the time Jeb was speaking, Max had begun poking Fang's arm. It was covered in bruises and it hurt him to do that. Still, she couldn't help herself.

"How comes you ain't got no shirt?"

He pointed to it laying on the ground. That man had taken it off him so he could examine his wings.

"Jeb, he needs a shirt."

The man ignored her though as Rody walked out of the room, clearly peeved. The raven haired boy looked down at his lap as Max started poking his arm again.

"Hi," he finally told her, hoping that would get her to stop. The, attempting the word he'd been working on the whole time apart, he said, "Mix."

She frowned. Then she full on hit him in his bruised arm.

"Max! My name's Max!"

"Maximum!" Jeb quickly moved to set her on the ground, away from the boy.

He started crying, more upset over the fact the girl had yelled at him more than anything. Pain wasn't much to him anymore. But this girl…this Max…he thought they could be…he didn't know the word for it, but something nice. He'd tried his hardest to say her name right. Really, he had. Why did she have to be so mean?

"Do you know who this child is?"

"…No," Max said, kicking her feet as Jeb got down on her level to speak with her.

"This is going to be one of the members of your team. Someone you're going to lead. He's your first group member. And this is how you treat him? How are you going to lead anyone with an attitude like that?"

"He ain't nothing, buts a crybaby. Look at 'im." Max glared up at the boy on the counter, mad at him now. He was getting her in trouble after all.

"Hi," the boy yelled down at her. "Hi!"

"Stop talking to me," she said, frowning at him.

"Mix! Mix! Mix!"

"Stop it!"

"Hi, Mix!"

"No!"

"M-"

"Knock it off, both of you!" Jeb's eyes grew dark as he glared at the two of them. "I swear, if I knew dealing with children was this hard, I'd have never-"

"How come he ain't gots no shoes?" Max frowned up at the little boy, who was now sniveling. All he wore at the moment was a pair of ripped and torn shorts and some threadbare socks. "I gots shoes."

"I don't know, Max," Jeb sighed, clearly put out by her questions. "Can you just behave for once? No more hitting. Alright?"

The boy really didn't understand and was really curious as to why she had so much control over the people in charge of them. She seemed to be important.

"Guess so," Max said, holding her arms up to be lifted once more. Jeb did so, quickly depositing her back on the counter next to the little boy. He just choked down a sob before glancing at her.

"Hi."

"Jeb, he's talking to me!"

"Max, be nice. He's going to be all you have in this world for awhile."

"I gots you."

"Believe me, Maximum; you'll grow to wish you didn't."

* * *

"Mo...ss. Moss. Ma…ss. Ma…ss. Mass. Mass. Max. Max. Max. Max. Max. Max."

The little boy was curled up in his cage, muttering to himself. He was going to impress this girl if it killed him. She was out right now, her cage currently unoccupied. A few days had passed and so far the two of had been pretty alright. Max had asked for him to open her food everyday, then joked about that being his only use. Which was fine. The child was just happy to have her on his side again.

One of the other people in the room, a few cages down, was crying. Sobbing, really. The boy just put it from his mind, laying there in his own gloomy cage, not liking to look out at the shadowy area around him. It all just looked so sinister to a little boy of barely three who had no one in the world rooting for him.

"Max. Max. Max." He paused. That sounded about right. "Hi, Max. Max, hi."

Smiling was rare for him, as he never had much to smile about, but a grin did escape onto his face then, in the menacing setting. He finally had something right. He just knew he did. Max. She would be so pleased with him. She'd be all like, 'Hey, boy, open this.' And he'd be all like, 'Hi, Max.' They were clearly destined for greatness.

He fell asleep then, proud of himself, his little car poking him in the stomach. It was on the floor of his cage right under him, but he didn't feel like moving it or himself. He'd just accomplished so much after all.

"What happened to you?"

When he woke up, Max was back in her cage, staring into his at him. The little boy just laid there, not speaking.

"How comes you gots some many bandie?"

Bandages. She was asking about his bandages. The child was shirtless, his ribs wrapped in gauze or something. They'd cut him open earlier. He didn't care about though. Only impressing her.

"Hi," he whispered, sitting up. Max just rolled her eyes, opening her mouth to speak again, right over him. Had she, she'd have missed his next word. "Max."

They both just stared at each other for a moment. Then she smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Hi," she said, making him giggle.

"Hi, Max," he said back, louder this time. Was it good enough? He sure hoped so. "Hi, Max."

"Hi," she said again, causing him to giggle. "Hi."

"Hi, Max. Max, hi! Hi! Max! Max!"

He was yelling now, it hurting his delicate, rarely used vocal chords. He didn't care though. He was telling Max hi. Just saying hi to Max. 'cause they're on that level and everything. Together. They say hi and such. You know, the usual.

His yelling though, caused a uproar in the room they were in, the other caged experiments letting their displeasure be known. It didn't matter how loud they were though, those other, worthless, test subjects. Nothing in the world short of death could have wiped the grins off those two kids' faces.

* * *

**I have used the term 'Max's shadow' enough to describe Fang in stories past that I figured it could use some moments throughout their lives in which that was true. It was supposed to be a long one-shot, highlighting those events, but then I figured I could turn it into a short little story. I'm hoping maybe five chapters, ten at the worst. Or best, depending who you are, I guess. **


	2. Chapter 2

Max's Shadow

Chapter 2

"Hey, are you gonna eat that?"

The little boy groaned, rolling onto his side so that he could see Max's cage. She was pointing at his packet of food he'd received. He'd been too sick to eat it. Moving to grab it, he quickly ripped it open with his teeth before slipping the bag between their cages and into Max's waiting hands.

"You ain't dying, huh?"

Shaking his head, the three year old rolled into a ball, cradling his stomach. He felt horrible.

"You sick?"

"Max."

"What's wrong?"

He just patted his stomach, moaning. The girl sat there, eating while watching him. She wanted to do something for him, honest, there just wasn't anything she could do. Not to mention, she was eating. Why ruin that for this boy? Sure he opened things for her, but that was about it. It's not like he was going to die before she finished eating or anything.

"Do you gotta poop?" Max watched him, frowning. "They'll be mad at ya if you do it in your undies."

He just kept moaning. He didn't understand how to tell her that he was sick. After all, he only knew two words.

"Do you got infernal bleedin'?"

"…Max?"

"I dunno what it is. I thinks its where you gots a booboo in your tummy or somethin'."

Infernal didn't sound right to the boy, but he just nodded at her. That's what he had. Infernal bleeding.

"Yeah, that's proba'ly what ya got." Max kept munching away on her food. "We're gonna have to get you some bandies. Maybe if ya swallow 'em, they'll heal you!"

He just moaned more. Something about her logic seemed flawed, but what did he know? According to that Jeb guy, Max was in charge. As she had explained to him the other day, she was his leader. She was apparently smarted than him, or so she said. And he agreed, as she was able to speak and all he could say was hi and Max.

"If Jeb gets me today, I'll ask for some for ya," Max told him, nodding her head slightly. She was very self-confident, or so the boy was learning. That was okay though, 'cause he had full faith in her. So far she hadn't steered him wrong. Then again, she hadn't had much of a chance.

"Are you gonna throws up blood?" Max did seem kinda concerned as she leaned closer to her cage bars, looking in on him. "I throws up sometimes. When they gives me nasty stuffs."

"Max," he moaned, shutting his eyes once more, his hair flopping down in his eyes. It had grown out some since the last time they operated on his brain. They would shave it usually in those situations, but since he hadn't had need anything done recently, they were allowing it to grow. The little boy rather liked it long usually, but at the moment, it was annoying him.

The both sat there in the dark for awhile, Max laying down in her cage and going to sleep also when she finished her food. Err, well, the boy's food. Same difference to her though. Jeb told her she was the leader, right? And sometimes the lesser people had to give up things for the boss. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

People came and went from the room all day, though they just messed with other experiments. The little boy and girl slept through most of that, used to frequent interruptions. They had no real sleep schedule, just finding peace during the times when their caretakers didn't need them for some sort of experiment or test. Recently, they had needed the boy more than the girl, though they had just been messing with his wings. They hadn't grown in right and they had been snipping at his back for awhile now. This caused the child excruciating pain, of course, but he was honestly more concerned with his tummy. What if he really did have infernal bleeding? Max made it sound horrible. And what if eating the bandages didn't help nothing?

The sound of the door opening and closing to the main room did not rouse the children, but the sound of his own cage creaking up got the boy up. It was his whine of pain that woke Max though.

"Don't. He's got infernal bleedin'." Shooting up, Max wrapped her little arms around the bars of the front of her cage, glaring at the scientist pulling her little charge out from his pen. The woman frowned at the girl, not understanding what she meant. Distracted by her, the woman reached in the cage once more for the boy, who instead of just whining, took a page out of his newly crowned chief's handbook and fought back. And he only had one real weapon at his disposal.

"He bit me," the woman screeched, jerking away from him much to the amusement of Max.

"Now yous proba'ly gots infernal bleedin's too," Max said with confidence while the little boy huddled into a ball in the back of his cage, expecting repercussions for his act of rebellion.

"You little wretch!" The woman snatched the three year old boy now and he was too fearful to even attempt a second assault. Max just sat there in her cage, wide eyed, watching as the woman took him away. She was almost to the door when it opened, a man walking in. Max smiled when she saw him.

"Jeb! He's gots infernal bleedin'," she called to the man, one of the experiments next to her roaring from all the commotion. Max just stared at the man, pleading for him to help her friend.

Friends. That what they were. Kind of. Just a little.

"What's wrong with the child?" Jeb asked, turning to address the female scientist. "Dr. Newton?"

Hesitating, she just went ahead and handed him over to the man, looking down. It was clear the he was her superior and she looked to him for guidance.

"I was instructed to take him back, for further testing. Apparently they gave him a concoction of medicine early yesterday morning and wanted to see what it had done to him."

"Nothing good, looking at him," the man said as the little boy huddled against him. He figured that since this man, Jeb, was so kind to Max that he'd be just the same to him. This was not the case as Jeb sat him on the ground, none to gently. "That's all we needed to know, honestly. It was the plan to give it to Maximum. It's to help with speed. If these are the side affects though, it's best to wait it out, see what happens to him and then give it to her."

With that, the man turned and walked away, heading to the door. Max wasn't having any of that though.

"Jeb," she whined. "What 'bout him? He's gots infernal bleedin'!"

He just looked back at them before nodding at the female scientist.

"Put him back in his cage. If he's still breathing in the morning, then we'll deal with him."

"You think he might die?" the woman asked, frowning. "We can't allow that. He's-"

"We have a replacement for him."

"A replacement?"

Jeb smiled then, shaking his head as he exited the room. "He's only Max's shadow, this one. Worthless. This new one, he'll be so much greater."

"We have a new one?"

"Yes. His wings aren't nearly as deformed. It will be much simpler, the future will be, with our newest child. This one is just a toy now. His only use it for test rounds. We wouldn't want to hurt Maximum or the new child, would we?"

As soon as he left, the woman quickly tossed the boy back into his cage, rather roughly. Crumbling up, the toddler huddled into a ball once more, whining. Max just watched, waiting for the woman to leave before reaching through the bars of her cage over to his, trying to touch him. Slowly, he reached out also, holding her hand.

"It's okay," Max tried to soothe as he sat there silently, not able to help the tears falling down his face. "Don't be a baby so much."

Sniffling, he closed his eyes tightly until the tears dried up. Then he resolved to never cry in front of her again. Or those stupid, mean scientists. He wasn't sure what a shadow was, but they had not made it sound good. So if he had to be that, so be it, but he would _not_ be a crybaby. He'd be just as strong as Max. If not stronger. Because Max's shadow or not, he was still him. Whoever he was.

* * *

"I think my wings is better-er than yours."

Blinking, the little boy looked at the girl next to him. They were standing in an examination area, both getting their wingspan measured. He hadn't seen Max recently, as he had just finished getting surgery on his wings. This was his first time seeing Max's though. She seemed pretty proud about them. They were different colors, which was nice, while his were just boring black. One upped again by this girl. He couldn't catch a break.

"It's okay though," Max assured him. "I'm leader. I gots to haves better wings."

"Oh."

Max gasped before smiling at him. "You said another word!"

He nodded, happy with himself. "Oh. Hi, Max."

"Hi."

They both frowned as a new boy was sat down in front of them. He was shirtless, wings unfurled, just like the two of them. The scientist that had brought him in took the one examining the other two kids aside, speaking to him in hushed tones.

"Hi," Max greeted him. "You got wings too."

"I do," he said, nodding his head as he stood before them.

"I'm Max," she introduced. "What's your name?"

"Mmmm…I change it lots."

"What's it today?"

"I likes iguanas. Ain't that a fun word to say?"

Nodding, Max said, "Yeah."

"So call me Iguana."

"Or Iggy."

"Or that."

They both turned to the boy then, who was frowning down at the ground, refusing to look at either of them.

Who was this other guy anyways? How come he had wings? Was he a shadow too? Something told the boy no. That made him angry. This new guy, Iguana, thought he could just come in here and be all nice to Max? Max was _his_ friend first. And he just knew she'd choose Iggy over him. He just knew it. Well, he'd like to see Iggy open something with only his teeth!

"Who are you?" the boy asked the silent one.

"He don't know how to talk good," Max said. "And he ain't gots a name."

"Then you should name him! I names lots of peoples. Lots. Sometimes, they don't even knows."

"Hmmm." Max glanced over at the boy, making him look at the ground again. Then she patted him on the shoulder. "I'mma calls you Bites. 'cause you bites lots of things."

"That's stupid." Iguana shook his head.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Then what would you call 'im?"

"Mmmm…if he likes to bites so much, then I'd call him Fangs."

"Fangs," Max said slowly.

"Yeah. Like teeths, but-"

"I know what they are!" Crossing her arms, Max immediately went into a deep debate within her own mind. She liked that name. Fangs. However, this new guy had been the one to offer it up. If she allowed this, then he would think he was in charge. That would not due.

"The name Fangs is dumb."

"Is not," Iggy complained.

"Fang is a better name."

"It's the same thing!"

"No." Max shook her head. Honestly, she loved adding an s to the end of things, but this was her position as leader on the line. "I'm boss. Not you. Right, Fang?"

The boy nodded quickly. Fang. Fang. Fang. How would he ever figure out how to say that? Still, he had to agree with Max. If he didn't, she might stop being his friend or whatever. He couldn't have that.

"Fine," Iggy said, crossing his arms while glaring at the girl. "Max, Fang, and Tiger.

"Tiger?"

Nodding, he said, "I just 'sided that's my new name."

"No," Max told him, crossing her arms. "Your name is Iggy."

"But I-"

"Max, Fang, and Iggy."

"Iggy, Max, and Fang," the boy challenged.

"No. I said it in the rights order the first time." Max looked at Fang before back at Iggy. "We come first. Always."

Fang smiled finally as the scientists came back to them, ordering the children to put their shirts back on. He might be Max's shadow and that might not mean much to that Jeb guy, but it clearly meant something to Max. It clearly meant a lot to Max.

Right?

* * *

**It was a beating getting this updated today. Anyone that's tried knows the Manage Stories tab is down. I had to, like, figure out the story id for this story and then play around with the URLs for this site before I figured it out. Simple once you get it, but heck figure it out. **


	3. Chapter 3

Max's Shadow

Chapter 3

Max disappeared first. At first, none of them thought of it as a disappearance. They were all used to one of them being taken away for extensive studies. Especially Max. And Angel.

She was just a baby, Angel was. Fang's cage was next to hers now. She didn't cry much though. Max always joked that it worked well for the two of them. He didn't talk and she didn't cry. A match.

"Max..." Fang whispered, laying down in his cage.

Angel had been the next to go. Still not unusual. She was so young, but so powerful. Max once told him that she had heard Jeb talking one day and heard him say that Angel had telepathy. Fang didn't know what that was and when Max asked Jeb later, he yelled at them for interfering.

Even with the two of them gone, Fang didn't think much. Until three days later when Gazzy was taken from them. The Gasman. Fang liked him. Sort of. He was funny at times. The little boy stank horribly though. Still, the children were used to all sorts of rank odors. The Gasman would always be the supreme ruler of all things rancid however.

Now there were only three of them. Him, Iggy, and Nudge. She was pretty nice too. She was loud though. She knew more words than Fang did and he was far older than her. Max seemed to like her enough. Still, Fang thought that maybe he could learn to like her, maybe, if she just stopped saying so many things.

When over a week had passed, Fang new they had been left behind. The quiet one, the blind one, and then…whatever Nudge was. The annoying one? Sure. Fang could understand why they'd leave her behind. And Iggy? He liked him and everything, but it made sense too. Still though, Fang always thought of himself as pretty important. Or at least Max told him that he was. She did it a lot. She liked complimenting him. He was pretty good at taking them too, if he could say so himself.

"They left us."

"No," Nudge said, shaking her little head back and forth. She was only about six, maybe seven. "Max always comes back."

"Well, she ain't this time," Iggy said with confidence. That's one thing that Fang envied the other boy for. His confidence. Even when he knew he was completely wrong, Iggy would fight for his point. With Whitecoats, Jeb, even Max. Iggy was the real deal.

"Yes," Nudge sad, nodding her head this time. "Max always comes-"

"Well, she ain't! Don't you get that." Iggy sat back in his cage, frowning slightly. "It's probably all your fault."

"No."

"Totally is. Ain't mine. Everyone likes me." Iggy shook his head. "What do you think then, Fang?"

He just laid on the floor of his cage, staring at the empty one across from him. That was the one Max had been using previously. She had been for the past few months. They'd just stare at each other all day. You know, playing the staring game. Fang always one. He always one the quiet game too. Max called him a cheater a lot even though he wasn't sure how you could cheat at those kinds of games.

Oh, and he wasn't a cheater. That was a big thing too.

"See?" Iggy went on. "Fang's all upset 'cause they left him behind. It's okay, Fang. I mean, if they left me behind, then there was no way you were going to make the cut."

Nudge humphed. "Then how comes they taked Gazzy?"

"Hmmm. Good point." Iggy sat up a little bit taller, bumping his head on the top bars of his cage. Rubbing his head then, he said, "They must be coming back for me then."

Sighing, Fang shifted onto his other side to stare at Angel's empty cage. He really wished Max would come back. He didn't really do well without her. None of them did. She was the one that always made sure they got fed, got their cages changed after they had an accident, made sure they got bandages for cuts. She was real good about that kinda stuff. Not Fang though. He was good at taking the things Max got for him though. And he was real good at following the orders he handed down. Those things he was just about awesome at.

"When they do come and get me, don't you guys start that crying or whatever. I'm sorry that you can't come with us," Iggy went on. "Really. I mean, it sucks, you know? I'd fight for ya, but hey, easy come easy go."

Nudge frowned at him. "What's that mean?"

"I dunno. I heard someone say it 'fore. So now I say it."

"Oh."

"All I mean is, hey, you guys have been cool. Nudge, Fang. Still, it's 'bout not getting killed."

"Killed," Nudge whispered. They all knew what that word meant. Death. Expired. Gone. Those were words they were very familiar with. "I don't wanna gets killed."

"Life sucks," Iggy told her simply, a mantra that they had all adopted at a young age. "Just try and make yourself useful, huh? When I'm gone? I don't want you to die or nothing, but without us around, you and him ain't going to be worth much. Let them add an extra arm to you or something. Another eyeball. Something."

Nudge moaned, clearly not liking the sound of any of that. "Do I gotta?"

"If you wanna survived," Iggy said with a certainty of a madman. "Now don't go crying on me, Nudge. I was like that too, when I let them do this to me. Make it to where I can't see no mores. But hey, I got through it. You'll look good with a third eye. Really, you-"

"Iggy, shut up."

He frowned then. "What'd you say, Fang?"

He pushed up slowly from his laying position, moving to sit then. "If you don't shut up, I will go over there and make you."

"Why don't you try then?"

"I will, Iggy," he threatened. "Making Nudge all upset and stuff. I don't care if you're just trying to make yourself feel better or not. You be quiet. Ain't nobody gonna hurt us, Nudge. We don't need Jeb and we definitely don't need Max."

It was a nice thing to say, a valiant thing, but they all knew he was doing the same thing Iggy was when he told the other two they were going to die; trying to make himself feel better.

The three children spend the rest of the day in silence, ignoring one another. Well, at least Fang and Iggy were ignoring one another. Nudge tried many times to spark up a conversation, but neither would bite. Eventually she gave up and went to sleep along with the other children.

They stayed that way for awhile, all resting in an uneasy sleep. That is until the room they were held in became lit up. Other animals and captives roused from their sleep, roaring in the displeasure. The light was quickly flicked back off, a slight giggle following it.

Fang, ever the observant one, sat up at the noise, never a light sleeper. "Ari?"

Another giggle. That one got Iggy and Nudge up. They all knew Ari. He was an annoying little pest to the oldest three, especially Max. She loathed the boy, though Fang never quite knew why. He seemed nice enough to Fang. Then again, Fang thought everyone was pretty dang nice so long as they weren't cutting his insides up in the name of science.

"What are you doing here, Ari?" Iggy asked before yawning. Nudge began to giggle along with the young boy, knowing that he was at least fun unlike the two guys she was now stuck with. "Max ain't here."

"Where?" The boy had come to stand in front of Fang's cage then, staring in at him. He always seemed to know the most about the girl he loved to bother. "Where?"

"I dunno," Fang said, staring into his eyes. "Your dad took her away. Do you know where she is?"

"I know."

"Then how come you asked?"

The boy shrugged. "Wanna know if you know."

"Well, we don't," Iggy said, not one to kid around when his freaking _life_ was on the line. "Now tell us where she and the others are. Now. Else we ain't gonna be so nice."

"You be quiet, Iggy," Fang warned again, not looking away from the boy in front of him. "Where's the others, Ari?"

"I take you."

"You'll take us? How you gonna get us out?" Iggy was never too good at following orders. Especially ones from stupid Fang. "Ari?"

"Max send. I come." The boy reached into his pocket then, holding out a set of keys.

"Max sent you?" Fang frowned, suspicious. He liked Ari and everything, but come on. He wasn't stupid. At least not fully so. "Really?"

The boy nodded. "Leave morning. Come get you."

"Leaving?" Iggy rattled the bars of his cage then. "Let us out, Ari. Now!"

"Uh-oh," Nudge giggled. "Hurry."

Ari, dutiful as ever, began to unlock their cages, ignoring the cries of all the other creatures in the room. He only ever messed with Max and her friends. His father told him that Max was pretty dang important and that he wasn't supposed to bother her much. For that reason alone he did it, as no child likes doing what they are told.

"Now what?" Iggy grumbled after Ari helped him from his cage. None of the kids thought to help the other people trapped even though they held the master key; growing up as they had, empathy wasn't their friend or even acquaintance.

"Can you take us to Max, Ari?" Fang stared at him. If Max was leaving in the morning, this was probably their last chance. Fang in all his ten years had never known a Whitecoat to be forgetful. Jeb was leaving them behind for a reason. And he didn't like it. Max, Angel, and the Gasman certainly weren't family, but they were something. And Fang planned on keeping that something.

"Mmmhmm." Ari smiled at him before turning to leave. "C'mon."

Fang looked to his right, ready to share a look with his usually ever-present friend, only she wasn't there. Dejected, he quickly moved to follow Ari, letting Nudge deal with leading the blind or in this case Iggy.

"Where is everybody?" Fang mumbled to Ari not soon after they left the room. The halls seemed pretty damn empty. They only had to hide in an alcove once and that was just for one of the Erasers was walking passed. It was on thing to get caught sneaking around by a Whitecoat, but it was a whole other to get caught by a freaking Eraser.

"I no know." Ari was no longer having fun. Erasers scared all the children, but him in particular. Where as Max and her friends were safe from their torment in most cases, Ari wasn't. Jeb was too protective over his son or so it seemed to Fang. Far more interested in Max. Always interested in Max.

Not that Fang was jealous. Because he wasn't. Max wasn't that great. Not to anyone else. Just Jeb. And Fang didn't want Jeb's attention or anything. He didn't. God.

The halls were mostly dark and Fang figured it was night. There was typically a night shift though of Whitecoats and Erasers that did their dirty business in the cover of darkness. Still, if they were going to get through without any complications, who was he to judge?

"Here," Ari said when they came to a door. "In here."

"What's in here? What is here? Fang?"

He ignored Iggy though as he moved to open the door. Turning the knob, he found it unlocked and for a sinking moment feared that Ari had led them into some kind of a trap. Growing up in a School, trust wasn't an easy thing to come by. Still, when Fang turned and looked at the younger boy's face, he couldn't even begin to think he had betrayed them. In no way did Fang trust the kid, but he didn't distrust him either. Ari fell into that murky area. It could go either way really.

"Ain't we going in?" Nudge asked Fang then, looking around. Even at seven she knew better than to just stand around. That was a sure fire way to get caught sneaking around. They did that a lot, snuck around. Not too much recently though, since Angel showed up and everything. Don't get her wrong, Nudge liked the little girl and everything. She just complicated things heavily. Little did Nudge know that the oldest boys thought that about all the younger children.

"Go in where?" Iggy was easily irritated in these kind of situations. It was a hard thing to get used to after all, not having eye sight after having it your whole life. Almost like getting your hand chopped off. Granted, it would have to be chopped off by an evil rouge scientist that went wrong somewhere along the way in hopes of helping mankind, but it was an easy drift to catch.

Fang nodded at Nudge then, still not talking to Iggy. He was a butthead after all. Slowly inching the door opened, he was shocked to find the room empty save a few boxes. Before he had a chance to turn and glare at Ari for tricking them, he smelt it. It was the strong odor of rotten eggs.

The Gasman.

"Max? Gazzy?" Fang walked slowly into the dark room, shocked when a head poked out of one of the cardboard boxes. Then when he recognized who it was, he smiled, rushing over to her side.

"Angel," he said as the toddler giggled. "What are you doing in there?"

She reached out for him to pick her up, but that was in vain as Fang never did those sorts of things. That was Max's department.

"Fang?"

The box next to Angel opened and Max climbed out. "Oh, good. You guys made it."

He just stared at her. "Are you guys playing a game? Where's Gazzy?"

"Here!"

Going over to another box, Nudge giggled as she opened the flaps to reveal the little boy. "Hi."

"Hi."

"Come on, Iggy, come in," Max called to him. And shut the door. We have to hurry."

"What's going on?" Fang asked.

"You guys are going to have to share boxes with us."

"Huh?"

"Iggy, you go with Gasman and Nudge, you go with Angel." It went without saying who Fang would be with. "There should be enough room if you squeeze."

"Where are we going though?" Fang asked again, slightly annoyed. "Max?"

"Jeb's taking us home."

"Home?" Fang repeated slowly, the word unfamiliar to him. "What do you mean?"

"He's taking us out of here," she told him hurriedly. "Tomorrow."

"To where?"

"Home."

"What's that?"

"It's where the Whitecoats go when they're not here," she told him. The she reached out and hugged him for, probably, the first time since they were little kids. He just stood still though, not moving to hug her back. It was a worthless gesture to him, but she seemed to get something out of it. "I thought you weren't coming."

"Jeb didn't get us."

"He don't want you," she told him.

Cut him deep.

"It's okay though," Max said, going over to help her into the box with Angel, even giving the little girl a kiss while she was at it. Max liked the younger kids the most or so Fang always figured. "I made Ari go get you. He's getting left behind too, I think. For awhile at least. I mean, Jeb can't leave him behind, can he?"

Fang frowned then. Ari! He had forgotten to thank the boy. Turning to do so, Fang found the door shut and only the Flock left in the room. Where had the little boy gone off to? Maybe if Fang knew that was the alst time he'd ever see the boy for a long time and the last time that the two were even remotely friendly with one another he might have grieved a little more than he did. At the moment though, he was more concerned with getting everyone settled in their boxes, his brain quickly shifting back to attack mode. Somewhere in his subconscious, he honestly thought that Jeb would bring Ari along. Why wouldn't he? If this home was what Max said it was, that was the exact place you'd take your only son.

"What were you guys thinking?" Max whispered to Fang not soon after they were all snug in their own box. They were cramped in there really and probably should have switched out so they were each with one of the younger children, but neither wanted to. There was much to discuss, after all.

"That you guys left us to die."

"Oh." Max smiled at him in the darkness. "You know I wouldn't do that."

"How come you were so sure that Jeb wasn't going to come get us?"

"Because he told me he wasn't," Max said bluntly, not needing to worry about his feelings. "He said all he needed was the three of us. I tried to argue, but he wasn't in too good a mood."

"He ain't ever."

Max shrugged. "I just knew I had to get you guys. If Ari didn't get it done, I wouldn't have gone. I'd have gotten out of the box and went to get you myself."

"Why are we in boxes anyways?"

"Jeb said that these other boxes are full of stuff that he'd delivering somewhere. He said that they'll put us on the truck and that people will think we're cars that go."

"Go where?"

"That's what he called it. Cargo."

"Hmmm." Fang shifted slightly in the box, Max's dirty socks not smelling too good to him. It beat the heck out of what Iggy was going to have to put up with the whole way there though. "So this home then."

"Jeb makes it sound real cool," Max assured him, nodding her head in that posed way she had. It was so much different than Iggy's façade of confidence. Hers were genuine. Fang knew that from experience. "Says that we won't be in cages."

"We won't?"

"Nope."

"There where will we sleep?" This was an honest worry of Fang's. They had only ever lived in cages and other cells. The thought of something else worried him. In his experience, things didn't get better; they only got worse.

"In beds."

"Like the things they cut us open on?"

Max frowned as she had not thought of that. "He didn't make it sound bad."

"I dunno, Max. This place don't sound too good."

"There's more stuff though, Fang."

"Like what?"

"Something called TV, he said."

"What's that?"

"He said it's like those little box things they're always messing with, but better."

"Computers?"

She shrugged. "I guess."

"Max," he scolded. "Computers is where they keep info on us."

"I know that."

"Well these TVs just sound worse than those."

"He said you watch them."

"Like the cameras they tape us with?"

"Shut up, Fang," she hissed at him. "You're trying to ruin everything."

"I don't wanna leave here," Fang told her then. They had been transferred to other Schools before, but this home place sounded like the crème de crème of torture chambers. "I don't wanna."

'Well, you have to, so get over it. Jeb told us me-"

"Told you," Fang repeated dryly. "He was gonna leave me here, Max. Me, Iggy, and Nudge. We ain't no good and he was going to leave us because of it."

"No."

"Yes, he was." Fang already had his knees pulled to his chest when he moved to lay his head down on top of them. "He was going to leave us. What if this place ain't got no room for us?"

"Then we'll share a cage."

"You said they won't have-"

"A bed then," she retorted. "Stop being difficult."

"I ain't tryin' to be," he reasoned. "I'm just-"

"If you don't want to go, Fang, 'cause you're a big scaredy cat-"

"I am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too, are too, are too!"

He let out a long huff then, glaring heavily at the girl he had only moment ago been so happy to see. "You don't know nothing, Max."

"Then stay. I don't want you to go anymore."

"Maybe I will then. Stay."

"Good."

"It'll be a lot better without you. I'll be lots happier."

'I'll be happy that you'll be happy."

"Alright then."

"Fine."

Neither moved to open the flaps though and let him out. Instead Fang just shifted away from her, not too happy with his valiant leader anymore.

At some point Fang must have drifted off. When he awoke, he could hear the sound of tape as someone no doubt closed the box. His eyes fell to Max who was holding a finger to her lips, wanting him to stay silent. Then, nodding at three little holes on the bottom, she mouthed something about breathing. Fang just nodded, his dark eyes staying locked with her brown ones as suddenly the box was lifted and carried. He could only hope that Iggy had been able to keep Gazzy silent and that the girls were in too deep a sleep to make a sound.

They were carried for a while, all the children getting jostled mercilessly. Still, Fang and Max remained silent and touched a little as possible. They were both angry with one another and it showed. Fang just couldn't understand how Max didn't see this as a bad thing. By the same token, she couldn't grasp how he didn't realize what a good thing it was. Forever polar opposites.

"When we get to the home," Max whispered after they had been placed on what they assumed was a truck and all was quiet. "You stay far away from me."

"Gladly."

"'cause you ruin everything."

"Whatever."

Their eyes locked again for a moment before Fang shifted, looking off. "You say a home is where the scientists go when they ain't here, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Then this is our home," he told her. "We don't like it much, but it is."

"It's not a good home," Max told him simply, Stockholm clearly not a syndrome she suffered from. "Jeb can give us one."

"I don't think so."

"That's why I'm leader, Fang," she told him simply as they were suddenly lurched forwards, the truck they had been loaded into now in motion. "Because you can't make good decisions for yourself. I can. I always have and always will."

"Guess so," he muttered, still not meeting her eyes. She had a point after all. She was the one that made all the tough choices in his life. Ever since he could remember. "I just don't wanna be goin' somewhere worser than her."

"The place won't be worser, Fang," she insisted. "Jeb says-"

"Jeb says, Jeb says." Fang had had about enough out of her and her precious Jeb. "Jeb was going to leave me behind, Max. Why should I trust him?"

"Because I do," she told him simply. "And you trust me, don't you?"

That was a no brainer.

"Then you trust my decisions," she said when he gave a slight nod. "And I'm choosing this."

"You're leader," he mumbled. "But leaders aren't always right."

"I'm wrong sometimes," Max admitted. "And if I'm not wrong about this. You just have to trust me. You said that you do."

"I do."

"Then stop being difficult."

"I'll try."

It was a long time for the two of them, sitting there in silken from that point forth until the truck finally stopped moving. The second it had though, they heard a car door slam no doubt from the cab of the truck and then the sound of the sliding door behind open. Of course Jeb opened Max's box first. Of course.

"What the hell have you done, Max?"

She and Fang were both blinking in the suddenly light. "Tryin' to sleep."

"What is he doing here?"

Max looked to Fang. "I brought him. And Iggy and Nudge. We're family. Forever."

"You brought them all," Jeb said slowly.

"Well, duh." Max stood from the box, yawning. "Are we home yet?"

"No, just on the side of the road. Stay in your box."

"I don't wanna."

"Sit."

Grumbling, Max did so. "Well, I'm sure the others want out too."

"Why did you bring him, Max? Any of them? I told you-"

"You told me to leave them," she said. "But before that you told me they were mine. My Flock. That I was their leader. A leader don't leave people behind. Ever."

"And who taught you that?"

"No one."

"That's right, Max. Because everyone's left you behind your whole life. You-"

"I've been left behind 'cause ain't nobody ever gonna lead me." She was nothing if she wasn't cocky. "And I'll never leave myself behind. So I'm fine."

Fang looked up at Jeb's face and, though it was partially shaded by the sunlight, he could see enough to tell that the anger he clearly had had about Max stowing the others away was fading into something else. Something he hadn't seen much of in his life. Admiration? No. Pride? Maybe.

"So they can stay then?" Max asked after a moment. "Huh?"

Jeb was silent for a moment, watching the two of them. Then slowly, he began to shut the box again. "A person isn't much, I suppose, without their shadow."

* * *

**This one really got away from me. Had two different parts to it, one saved on the computer and one saved on a flashdrive from writing during school, and didn't realize how long it was until I put them together. It's not long by any account for me, but for this story it's a little lengthy. Anyways, I'm thinking two more short chapters of this and then I'm done. Hope they don't take as long to get up.**


End file.
